Argentine food is meat-heavy, Italian-influenced, and generally excellent. Vegetarians can get by but will need to be creative outside Buenos Aires.
Asado
The asado — an outdoor barbecue slow-cooked over wood or charcoal — is the national ritual. It's social as much as culinary: an asado can last three or four hours, and the food comes in waves. Cuts you'll encounter include asado de tira (short ribs), vacío (flank steak), matambre (stuffed rolled flank), and various offal — chinchulines (intestines), morcilla (blood sausage), and chorizos. Eating at a proper parrilla (grill restaurant) is one of the best things you can do in Argentina.
Beef
Argentine beef has a global reputation and largely deserves it, raised on the pampas grasslands. The standard cuts at a parrilla are bife de chorizo (sirloin) and lomo (tenderloin). Don't expect rare by default — jugoso (medium-rare) and a punto (medium) are the common defaults. Ask for vuelta y vuelta if you want it genuinely rare.
Italian influence
The Italian immigration wave left pasta, pizza, and ice cream deeply embedded in Argentine culture. Buenos Aires has excellent pizzerias (the local style is thicker and more generous than Neapolitan) and heladerías (ice cream shops) that rival any in Italy. Empanadas — stuffed pastries baked or fried — are found everywhere and vary significantly by region.
The northwest
Salta and Jujuy have their own distinct cuisine: locro (a thick stew of corn, beans, and meat), humitas (corn tamales), and tamales. The flavors are earthier and more Andean than in the pampas.
Wine
Argentina is one of the world's top wine producers, and wine is both excellent and affordable. The signature grape is Malbec, grown mainly in Mendoza and producing full-bodied reds. Torrontés, a fragrant white unique to Argentina, comes from the high-altitude vineyards around Cafayate in Salta. Even house wine at a restaurant is usually worth drinking.
Mate
Mate is the national drink — a bitter herbal infusion drunk from a gourd through a metal straw (bombilla). It's shared among friends and passed around the circle, a daily social ritual for most Argentines. Accepting mate when offered is a gesture of acceptance; refusing to share back is mildly awkward.